Jack of All Trades, Party of None

Right after closing in on the hero, I activated the carefully constructed space leap and shifted to a grove near the border.

Just as Old Man Edington had said, the trees were spaced just right, providing ample room to swing a sword.

In fact, using these trees might even give me the upper hand in battle.

Just before activating the space leap, my sword was blocked by something invisible, just like the first strike, and the recoil from the long-distance jump left a clear opening for a moment. However, the hero was surprised by the sudden change in scenery and didn’t take advantage of that opening.

I immediately leapt backward to put some distance between us.

“So this is near the Kuraiō Mountain Range,” the hero murmured as he looked around, catching sight of the towering mountains nearby.

The Kuraiō Mountain Range marks the border between the Nohitant Kingdom and the Sobel Empire.

As the hero guessed, this was the grove near the northernmost part of the Nohitant Kingdom by the Kuraiō Mountains.

“That’s right. I want you to return to the empire as is,” I told the hero.

He turned to face me and responded, “I can’t do that. It’s my job to seize the Reglyph Territory. I can’t go home until that’s done.”

If this is a ‘job,’ then this invasion wasn’t the hero’s sole decision.

After all, he is the Crown Prince.

There must be very few who can give orders to someone like him.

“I don’t particularly care if the empire takes control of this territory. Do whatever you want. But don’t involve my comrades, the silver rabbits of the night sky. We’ll leave this territory. So promise me you won’t lay a hand on them.”

“That promise was already made with the gray-haired man. It was you who broke it. But fine. I’ll promise again. If you don’t interfere with us, we won’t interfere with you.”

So the two members of the a rank party were defeated because we struck first and then took a counterattack.

If that’s true, then we share some blame here.

“Understood. I’ll sternly instruct my comrades not to interfere any further. We’ll leave this territory, so do as you please afterward—”

“That’s not allowed. You’ll stay here.”

I thought we might return to Tsutolairu without fighting, but my request to leave the territory was suddenly rejected.

“Why?”

“You have something to do here after we seize this land. We can’t have you leaving.”

Something for us to do?

Old Man Edington said the empire’s invasion was to secure the dungeon.

If securing it is necessary, it implies the number of dungeons inside the empire is decreasing.

If dungeons decrease, they can’t secure enough magic stones.

That means they urgently need more people for dungeon exploration.

But if so, then the empire can just send their explorers here after the hero and his group seize Reglyph Territory.

So the shortage of magic stones or dungeon materials must be so severe they can’t wait for those reinforcements.

If there is a magic stone shortage, the empire would desperately try to hide it.

Because it would hurt them diplomatically.

The fact that the Edington family’s intelligence agents know about it proves the situation is too severe to hide.

In that case, the hero cannot back down here.

“I see. Then the negotiations are broken. I’ll neutralize you here.”

I activated the magical weapon I had been preparing while talking with the hero.

The magic stones embedded inside the large magic stone entrusted to me by Old Man Edington instantly disappeared, turning into colorless glass orbs before shattering.

Right after activation, the trees surrounding the hero suddenly began glowing. They were magical tools disguised as trees.

Four glowing magical tools connected by lines of light formed a translucent cube that trapped the hero inside.

The hero tried to smash the barrier with his fists, but as soon as his fist touched the wall, it bounced back as if repelled.

The interior of this barrier is covered with a reflective barrier, making physical destruction difficult.